Danbury Ridge

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Essex Wildlife Trust manages a block of nearly 250 acres of nature reserves on Danbury Ridge, a mosaic of woodland, common and heathland, streams and bogs.

Woodham Walter Common, a gravel-covered plateau sloping down to stream valleys on both sides, forms the eastern section. It is principally secondary woodland, with a few areas that are being kept open to encourage low-growing plants, and especially ling heather. It is noted for its sessile oak trees, with many rowan and a scattering of wild service and alder buckthorn.

Birch Wood at its northern corner consists mainly of hornbeam coppice, worked on a 20-year cycle. In spring there is a superb display of flowers, including wood anemones, wood spurge, wood sorrel and climbing corydalis. The wood also contains a colony of the unusual golden-scaled fern.

Pheasanthouse Wood to the west is mixed woodland with a raised bog. This has dense hummocks of sphagnum moss, large numbers of the rare lesser skullcap, and smooth and star sedges.

Little Baddow Heath forms most of the southern section, descending steeply from north and south to a superb stream valley containing primrose, fen bedstraw, ragged robin and several species of fern, and alive with insects in summer. North of the stream was once grass heathland that has developed into secondary woodland over the past 20–30 years. A section has been restored and here can be found many wild flowers, including unusual plants such as heath milkwort and goldenrod.

Poors Piece sits in the angle to the west of Little Baddow Heath. It contains many oak pollards, suggesting that it was once used as wood pasture. In its southern corner is a marsh full of wetland plants, and notably hemp agrimony, hop sedge and lady fern.

The southernmost tip is Scrubs Wood, consisting mainly of hornbeam and chestnut coppice with oak standards, plus some wild service trees. It is fairly flat except for the gently sloping bank on its southern boundary which has a fine display of wood anemones. Other flowering plants include tormentil and broad-leaved helleborine.

Spring Wood, added most recently, is nine acres of secondary woodland towards the south-west corner.

Dormice, once common but now much reduced in numbers, are found in many parts of the reserve. The birdlife includes nuthatch, all three species of woodpecker, migrant warblers and, intermittently, nightingale. There are good numbers of butterflies including brimstone, ringlet and small copper.

Lily of the valley is a special feature of Danbury Ridge, and other unusual wild flowers here include yellow archangel, greater butterfly orchid and sanicle.